F1 2011 silly-season focussed on technical gurus, not drivers

It may be comparatively quiet on the driver front in silly-season talk F1 2011-style, but it is all action behind-the-scenes when it comes to the movement of leading technical staff, if the latest rumours are to be believed.

Although Adrian Newey - designer of the world-beating Red Bull Racing RB6 and RB7 - palpably has no desire to jump ship, Italian magazine Autosprint reports that the defending double F1 World Champions' head of aerodynamics Peter Prodromou could be set for a switch to Mercedes Grand Prix, taking all the secrets he has gleaned from working closely alongside Newey with him.

Elsewhere, Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat claims that Ferrari's chassis director Pat Fry is endeavouring to entice senior aerodynamicist Rupad Darekar and CFD expert Ioannis Veloudis away from his former employer McLaren-Mercedes to join him at Maranello - whilst according to Italiaracing, Force India F1 is in discussions with Williams' departing technical director Sam Michael regarding a role at the Silverstone-based squad.